Francesca Maria Steele
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Francesca Maria Steele (21 April 184810 August 1931) was an English novelist, historian, and biographer, who began writing to support her family. She began her writing career with
juvenile fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...
; she later moved into adult fiction, using the pseudonym Darley Dale for her fiction writing. Intensely religious, she converted to Roman Catholicism in 1887 and later wrote several books on religious topics.


Early life

Steele was born in London on 21 April 1848.The index of births shows that Steele was born in the second quarter of 1848. However, she was baptised in St Peter's Church, West Hackney on 26 May 1848 Her parents were Robert Peter Steele (181610 May 1884), the secretary of the Royal Assurance Company and Frances Mary Francis (8 February 18183 October 1902). Steele was educated at
Bedford College, London Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, it became a constituent of the University of London. Having played a leading role in the advancement of women in highe ...
, the first
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
college for women in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Steele lived in Jersey from 1874 to 1884. She began writing in Jersey, with ''The Jersey Boys'' in 1878. Her father died on 10 May 1884, and his pension died with him. He had lost everything else in a bank collapse, so Steele's mother was now dependent on what Steele could earn from her writing. Steele moved to
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
with her mother and sisters. Steele and her sister Alice Mary (1856c. 1935) converted to Roman Catholicism in 1877. Alice went on to become a
nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
and was the sister in charge at
Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne ...
Convent at 6 Hyde Park Place, in London at the time of the 1911 census. Alice was still in charge there twenty years later when Steele died. Steele had already moved to Loretto House at Stroud in Gloucestershire when her mother died there on 3 October 1902. She was still there nearly thirty years later when she died. Even after her mother died, Steele was still supporting her youngest sister, Emma Caroline, when she applied to the
Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...
in 1914.


Name variants

Steele was registered at birth and baptised as Fanny Maria Steele, and she used this name up until the 1891 census. By the 1901 census she was using the name Florence Steel, but soon changed to Francesca Maria Steele. She used this name for the publication of ''The Convents of Great Britain'' in 1902. In the 1911 Census, she used that form of her name also, and continued to do so. For her writing, she used the pseudonym Darley Dale for all of her fiction, but used her real name for her writing on religious topics.


Works

Steele's work can be divided into three types: *
Juvenile fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...
. Indicated by ''juv.'' in the table below. Steele wrote about 20 books for children.It is not always clear what category Steele's books fit into, and the list in ''Who Was Who'' does not indicate the category for all of her books, and it is possible that there are volumes that are not listed here. Children's books were usually illustrated and printed in a single volume. *Adult fiction. Indicated by ''adt.'' in the table below. Steele wrote over a dozen adult novels. The earlier adult novels were published in as
three-volume novel The three-volume novel (sometimes three-decker or triple decker) was a standard form of publishing for British fiction during the nineteenth century. It was a significant stage in the development of the modern novel as a form of popular literatur ...
s volumes. This was the norm at the time, as such a format had an appeal to circulating libraries. *Religious topics. Indicated by ''rel.'' in the table below. Steele wrote biographies of saints and of important figures in church history, as well as her survey of convents and monasteries. She contributed 21 articles to the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...
''. The sources for the table are: * The
Jisc Jisc is a United Kingdom not-for-profit organisation that provides network and IT services and digital resources in support of further and higher education and research, as well as the public sector. Its head office is based in Bristol with ...
Library Hub Discover Database, that collates catalogues from 161 academic and specialist libraries across the UK and Ireland. * The list in the ''Who Was Who'' article for Steele. * The author page for Steele on the ''At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837-1901'' There seem to be no works by Steele at
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...
, so the table indicated those cases where online versions of the texts are available.


Example of illustration of one of Steele's books

The following four illustrations by AFB were produced for ''The Family Failing'' (1883) by Steele (courtesy of
The British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
) Typically, at the time, when it came to novels, only
juvenile fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...
was illustrated, although serial stories were often illustrated, even if they were for adults. File:Page 24 - Illustration by AFB for The Family Failing (1883) by Francesca Maria Steele - Courtesy of BL.jpg, An unexpected visitor File:Page 60 - Illustration by AFB for The Family Failing (1883) by Francesca Maria Steele - Courtesy of BL.jpg, Taking to the boats File:Page 124 - Illustration by AFB for The Family Failing (1883) by Francesca Maria Steele - Courtesy of BL.jpg, A disguise File:Page 182 - Illustration by AFB for The Family Failing (1883) by Francesca Maria Steele - Courtesy of BL.jpg, Meryvn's punishment


Later life

At the time of the 1911 Census, Steele was living with her sister Emma Caroline at Loretto House in
Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the ...
. Whatever income she had from her writing, it was obviously not enough as she applied for assistance from the
Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...
in 1914. In her later years, Steele was an invalid. She died on 16 August 1931, leaving a relatively modest estate of less than £400. Her sister Emma Caroline was her executor, and only survived her sister by four years, dying on 9 December 1935.


Notes


References


External links


Books by Steele
in the
Jisc Jisc is a United Kingdom not-for-profit organisation that provides network and IT services and digital resources in support of further and higher education and research, as well as the public sector. Its head office is based in Bristol with ...
database of collated library catalogues.
Books by Steele
on the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Francesca Maria 1848 births 1931 deaths Christian hagiographers Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia Converts to Roman Catholicism English children's writers English women writers Victorian novelists Writers from London